Continuous punch apparatus

ABSTRACT

A continuous punch apparatus comprises a first punch station and a second punch station. The first punch station includes a first punching assembly and a second punching assembly that are laterally spaced apart from each other. The first punching assembly and the second punching assembly are configured to be moved laterally. The second punch station includes a third punching assembly. The third punching assembly is configured as having a punch head with a cross-section parallel to a sheet material and increasing in a direction away from the sheet material, so that a substantial punching section of the punch head of the third punching assembly in punching through the sheet material can be selectively used.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a punch apparatus, and more specifically, to a continuous punch apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the numerous processing methods of sheet metal is punching. One single cut-out contour in the sheet metal can be formed by either one-step punching or multi-station continuous punching. In various punching applications, there is a demand for similar cut-out contours. That is, the lengths of the cut-out contours may increase or decrease, while the end shape thereof remain the same. The similar cut-out contours with different sizes are produced when punching operations are performed in a sheet metal of specific width and/or when the size of the cut-out contour is desired as corresponding to the width of the sheet metal.

As schematically shown in FIG. 1—(A), a conventional punching press comprises a cylinder base 1, a punch holder 2, a punch head 3 mounted on the punch holder 2, and a lower punch base 4. A die is arranged on a frame base 5. A pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 6 is arranged on the cylinder base 1 to provide actuating force for punching operations. When punching is performed, the punch bead 3 punches through a sheet material 7 to obtain cut-out contours as desired.

In the above mentioned case of cut-out contours with different lengths, it is required to prepare multiple punch and die sets corresponding to the desired cut-out contours of similar shapes, in particular to prepare punching heads 3, 3′ in different dimensions, as illustrated in FIG. 1—(B) and (C). Therefore, the need for multiple punch and die sets not only increases the cost on the punch and die sets, but also involves more time and labor on exchanging the punch and die sets.

Accordingly, the present invention is to provide an effective solution to the drawbacks of the conventional punching press.

SUMMARY

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a continuous punch apparatus comprises a first punch station and a second punch station. The first punch station includes a first punching, assembly and a second punching assembly that are laterally spaced apart from each other. The first punching assembly and the second punching assembly are adapted to form a first cut-out contour and a second cut-out contour, respectively, in a sheet material. The second punch station includes a third punching assembly. The third punching assembly is adapted to form a third cut-out contour in the sheet material between the first cut-out contour and the second cut-out contour after the sheet material is moved to the second punch station from the first punch station. The third cut-out contour communicates with the first cut-out contour and the second cut-out contour. A punch head of the third punching assembly punching through the sheet material has a cross-section parallel to the sheet material and increasing in a direction away from the sheet material. The first punching assembly and the second punching assembly are configured to be adjusted laterally to form the first cut-out contour and the second cut-out contour having variable positions. The third pinching assembly is configured so that the punch head selectively uses a substantial punching section to form the third cut-out contour having variable sizes, thereby a combined cut-out contour formed by the first cut-out contour, the second cut-out contour and the third cut-out contour is variable.

In accordance with a second aspect, the continuous punch apparatus according to the first aspect is configure so that the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected based on the lateral adjustment of the first punching assembly and the second punching assembly.

In accordance with a third aspect, the continuous punch apparatus according to the first or second aspect is configure so that the first punching assembly and the punching, assembly are movably arranged on lateral sliding guides and are secured by fasteners,

In accordance with a fourth aspect, the continuous punch apparatus according to the first or second aspect is configure so that the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a height of the third punching assembly relative to the sheet material.

In accordance with a fifth aspect, the continuous punch apparatus according to the first or second aspect is configure so that the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a height of the sheet material relative to the third punching assembly.

In accordance with a sixth aspect, the continuous punch apparatus according to the first or second aspect is configure so that the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a cylinder stroke of the punch head of the third punching assembly.

In accordance with a general aspect of the invention, a continuous punch apparatus comprises a first punch station and a second punch station. The first punch station is adapted to form at least one first cut-out contour in a sheet material. The second punch station is adapted to form at least one second cut-out contour. The sheet material experiences punching operation in the first punch station and the second punch station, and the at least one first cut-out contour and the at least one second out-out contour communicates with each other to form a combined cut-out contour. The first punch station is configured, so as to cause variable positions of the at least one first cut-out contour. The second punch station is configured so as to cause variable sizes of the at least one second cut-out contour via geometry of a punch head of the second punch station by means of selectively using a substantial punching section of the punch head punching through the sheet material.

Other goals, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a conventional punching assembly, in which part (A) is a front view of the conventional assembly, part (B) is a cross-sectional view of a punch head taken along line A-A, and part (C) is a cross-sectional view of another punch head taken along line A-A.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a continuous punch apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The continuous punch apparatus includes a first punch station and a second punch station.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the continuous punch apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the first punch station, in which part (A) is a is a cross-sectional view of punch heads and a sheet material taken along line D-D of FIG. 3, and part (B) is a top plan view of the sheet material after being punched.

FIG. 5 shows the operation of the second punch station, in which part (A) is a is a cross-sectional view of the punch head and the sheet material taken along line D-D of FIG. 3, and part (B) is a top plan view of the sheet material after being punched.

FIG. 6 illustrates adjustment of the first punch station and the second punch station based on a smaller sheet width and a smaller combined cut-out contour, in which part (A) is cross-sectional view of the first punch station taken along line B-B, part (B) is a cross-sectional view of the second punch station taken along line C-C, and part (C) shows a substantial punching section of the punch head of the second punch station.

FIG. 7 illustrates adjustment of the first punch station and the second punch station based on a larger sheet width and a larger combined cut-out contour, in which part (A) is cross-sectional view of the first punch station taken along line B-B, part (B) is a cross-sectional view of the second punch station taken along line C-C, and part (C) shows a substantial punching section of the punch head of the second punch station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will he described with reference to the drawings. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the description below for the embodiments is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limiting the scope of the invention.

Initially referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a continuous punch apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a first punch station 10 and a second punch station 20. The first punch station 10 includes a first punching assembly 11 and a second punching assembly 12 that are laterally spaced apart from each other. The first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12 have a punch head 11 p and a punch head 12 p, respectively. Each of the punch heads 11 p and 12 p are coupled to a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder to perform punching operation to a sheet material 30 in a first stage. The second punch station 20 includes a third punching assembly 21. The third punching assembly 21 has a punch head 21 p coupled to a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder to perform punching operation to the sheet material 30 in a second stage after the first punch station performs punching operation to the sheet material 30. That is, the first punch station 10 first forms partial cut-out contours in the sheet material 30, and then forms another partial cut-out contour in the sheet material 30 at a location having been processed by the first punch station 10, thereby leading to a complete combined cut-out contour 30 from the communication of the partial cut-out contours. With a material feeding structure made front servomotors, precise belts, gears, and chains (not shown), the sheet material can be transported to the second punch station 20 from the first punch station 10 for precise positioning and punching.

The first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12 are punching tools that can be moved laterally. The first punch station 11 and the second punch station 12 are installed on guide rails for adjustment of lateral position, and are fixed by bolts or positioning pins. The third punching assembly 21 is a punching tool that can be moved vertically via padding blocks 22 for adjustment of height of the base the third punching assembly 21.

The adjustment of the lateral positions of the first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12 are not limited to the means above, and can be carried out by other mechanical, electrically actuated, or hydraulic means.

Referring to FIG. 4, the operation of the first punch station 10 is shown, in which part (A) is a is a cross-sectional view of the punch heads and the sheet material taken along line D-D of FIG. 3, and part (B) is a top plan view of the sheet material after being punched. When the first punch station 10 performs punching operation, the punch heads 11 p and 12 p punch through the sheet material 30 to form partial cut-out contours 11 c and 12 c. By adjusting the lateral positions of the first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12, a distance d1 between the partial cut-out contours 11 c and 12 c can be changed accordingly.

Referring to FIG. 5, the operation of the second punch station 10 is shown, in which part (A) is a is a cross-sectional view of the punch head and the sheet material taken along line D-D of FIG. 3, and part (B) is a top plan view of the sheet material after being punched. The sheet material is transported to the second punch station 20 for punching process. The punch head 21 p punches through the sheet material 30 to form a partial cut-out contour 21 c as shown in dash line. The partial cut-out contour 21 c formed at the second punch station 20 communicates with the partial cut-out contours 11 c and 12 c formed at the first punch station 10, forming a complete combined cut-out contour 30 c.

It should be understood that the combined cut-out contour 30 c is not necessarily the final cut-out contour. This punch apparatus may have more punch stations for punching process in periphery of the combined cut-out contour 30 c or other unprocessed areas.

The punch head 21 p of the third punching assembly 21 tapers inwardly and downwardly in the lateral direction and thus becomes larger along a direction away from the sheet material 30. As a result, the punch head 21 p has a cross-section parallel to the sheet material and increasing in a direction away from the sheet material 30. Referring to FIGS. 6—(B) and (C), in this embodiment, the cylinder actuating the punch head 21 p has a fixed stroke. Therefore, when the third punching assembly 21 is adjusted vertically and upwardly, the rest position of the punch head 21 p is farther from the sheet material 30, so that the substantial punching section 21 s′ of the punch head 21 p is smaller under fixed punch head stroke, which results in a smaller area of the cut-out contour (i.e., smaller cut-out length d2). In contrast, referring to FIGS. 7—(B) and (C), when the third punching assembly 21 is adjusted vertically and downwardly, the rest position of the punch head 21 p is closer to the sheet material 30, so that the substantial punching section 21 s′ of the punch head 21 p is larger, which results in a larger area of the cut-out contour (i.e., larger cut-out length d2′). Accordingly, the height of the third punching assembly 21 is adjusted to properly choose a desired size of the partial cut-out contour 21 c corresponding to the unprocessed region between partial cut-out contours 11 c and 12 c.

The adjustment of the vertical position of the third punching assembly 21 is not limited to the means of padding blocks mentioned above, and can be carried out by other mechanical, electrically actuated, or hydraulic means.

Specifically, referring again to FIGS. 6 and 7, the adjustment of the first punch station and the second punch station with respect to the different sheet widths and combined cut-out contours is shown. In Fig, 6, when forming a shorter combined cut-oat contour in the sheet material 30′ of narrower sheet width w1, the first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12 are adjusted toward the center of the sheet material for closer partial cut-out contours as illustrated in FIG. 6—(a), and the third punching assembly 21 is adjusted upwardly for a smaller partial cut-out contour as illustrated in FIG. 6—(b). This causes a smaller combined cut-out contour 30 c′. In FIG. 7, when forming, a longer combined cut-out contour in the sheet material 30″ of wider sheet width w2, the first punching assembly 11 and the second punching assembly 12 are adjusted toward the sides of the sheet material fix farther partial cut-out contours as illustrated in FIG. 7—(a), and the third punching assembly 21 is adjusted downwardly for a larger partial cut-out contour as illustrated in FIG. 7—(b). This causes a larger combined cut-out contour 30 c″, cut-out contours 30 c′ and 30 c″ has similar contours, of which the side portions are substantially identical, and the center portions have different sizes.

Since the size of the partial cut-out contour 21 c produced by the third punching assembly 3 varies in accordance with the cross-section of the punch head 21 p, it is not limited to the adjustment of the height of the third punching assembly 21 c, and possible solutions are adjusting the height of the sheet material under fixed cylinder stroke, and adjusting cylinder stroke of a cylinder with stroke adjusting feature, etc.

In addition, the punch head 21 may have significant differences in cross-section to produce dissimilar cut-out contours 21 c.

According to another embodiment (not shown) of the present invention, the first punch station 10 and the second punch station 20 may have different numbers of the punching assemblies from the numbers mentioned in the first embodiment. That is, the combined cut-out contour is no necessarily formed by the cut-out contours at two sides and the cut-out contour in the middle. For example, the first punch station 10 may have only one punching assembly that moves laterally, so that the cut-out contour produced by the first punch station 10 is combined with the variable cut-out contour produced by the second punch station 20 to form a combined cut-out contour.

According to yet another embodiment (not shown) of the present invention, contrary to the first embodiment, the first punch station 10 may have a punching assembly that can be adjusted vertically, and the second punch station 20 may have punching assemblies that can be adjusted laterally. A cut-out contour identical to the cut-out contour of the first embodiment can be produced in this manner.

In understanding the scope of the present invention, the term “comprising” and its derivatives, as used herein, are intended to be open ended terms that specify the presence of the stated features, elements, components, groups, and/or integers, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, and/or integers. Also, an element when described in the singular can have the dual meaning of a single part or a plurality of parts.

As used herein to describe the above embodiment(s), the following directional terms “lateral”, “vertical “, “center”, “upward”, “downward”, etc are determined based on the plane of the sheet material as reference. Therefore, the disclosures also apply to vertical, horizontal, or other types of punch press.

Also, it will be understood that while the terms “first” and “second” recited herein are to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by a particular order of the ordinal numbers. The ordinal numbers are used to distinguish one element from another element. Moreover, the terms of degree such as “substantially”, “about” and “approximately” as used herein mean a reasonable amount of deviation of the modified term such that the end result is not significantly changed.

While only selected embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that various changes, modifications and replacements can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, unless specifically described otherwise, the size, shape, position or orientation of the various components can be changed as needed and/or desired, as long as such change does not substantially affect the expected action or function. Components that are shown directly connected or contacting each other may have intermediate structures disposed between them without affecting the expected function. A single component illustrated as integrally formed may be one single part, or combined by multiple sub-parts. The functions of one element may be performed by two, and vice versa, unless specifically limited. The structures and functions of one embodiment may be adopted in another embodiment. It is not necessary for all advantages to be present in a particular embodiment at the same time. Every feature which is unique from the prior art, alone or in combination with other features, also should be considered a separate description of thither inventions by the applicant, including the structural and/or functional concepts embodied by such feature(s). Thus., the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments according to the present invention are provided for illustration only, and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A continuous punch apparatus comprising: a first punch station including a first punching assembly and a second punching assembly that are laterally spaced apart from each other, the first punching assembly and the second punching assembly adapted to form a first cut-out contour and a second cut-out contour, respectively, in a sheet material; and a second punch station including a third punching assembly, the third punching assembly adapted to form a third cut-out contour m the sheet material between the first cut-out contour and the second cut-out contour after the sheet material is moved to the second punch station from the first punch station, the third cut-out contour communicating with the first cut-out contour and the second cut-out contour, wherein a punch head of the third punching assembly punching through the sheet material has a cross-section parallel to the sheet material and increasing in a direction away from the sheet material, and wherein the first punching assembly and the second punching assembly are configured to be adjusted laterally to form the first cm-out contour and the second cut-out contour having variable positions, and the third punching assembly is configured so that the punch head selectively uses a substantial punching section to form the third cut-out contour having variable sizes, thereby a combined cut-out contour formed by the first cut-out contour, the second cut-out contour and the third cut-out contour is variable.
 2. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected based on the lateral adjustment of the first punching assembly and the second punching assembly.
 3. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first punching assembly and the punching assembly are movably arranged on lateral sliding guides and are secured by fasteners.
 4. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 2, wherein the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a height of the third punching assembly relative to the sheet material.
 5. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 2, wherein the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a height of the sheet material relative to the third punching assembly.
 6. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 2, wherein the substantial punching section of the third punching assembly is selected by means of adjusting a cylinder stroke of the punch head of the third punching assembly.
 7. A continuous punch apparatus comprising: a first punch station adapted to form at least one first cut-out contour in a sheet material; and a second punch station adapted to form at least one second cut-out contour, the sheet material experiencing punching operation in the first punch station and the second punch station, the at least one first cut-out contour and the at least one second cut-out contour communicating with each other to form a combined cut-out contour, wherein the first punch station is configured so as to cause variable positions of the at least one first cut-out contour, and the second punch station is configured so as to cause variable sizes of the at least one second cut-out contour via geometry of a punch head of the second punch station by means of selectively using a substantial punching section of the punch head punching through the sheet material.
 8. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 7, wherein the punch head of the second punch station punching through the sheet material has a cross-section parallel to the sheet material and increasing in a direction away from the sheet material.
 9. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first punch station performs punching,g, operation earlier than the second punch station.
 10. According to the continuous punch apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second punch station performs punching operation earlier than the first punch station. 